Automobile-door latch



F. KLEINSMITH.\

AUTOMOBILE DOOR LATCH. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24. I919.

1,348, 882. Patented g- 10, 1920.

1a 7 II I I9 INVENTOR. FrederickKIeinsmith A TTORNE YJT um r n STATES mnnnrox KLEIN-SMITH, 'oF mmANAroLIs, INDIANA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

AUTOMOBILE-DOOR LATCH.

Patented Aug. 10, 1920..

Original application fllerilay 17, 1918, Serial No. 235,121. Divided and this application filed November 24, 1919. Serial No. 340,150.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK KLEIN- SMITH, by kudicial change of name, formerly ANTHONY KLEINSOHMIDT, a citizen of the United States residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automobile-Door Latches, of

, which the following is a specification;

of the door.

This invention relates to automobile door latches, more especially to a latch capable of operating with a door having an extensible portion. It is very desirable, in extensible width substantially that of the door itself.

By my present invention I obviate such disadvantages, it being among the objects thereof to produce a latch which is simple in -construction, reliable in operation, and allows the use ofa vertically movable or extensible portion which fills practically the entire width of the door. The present application is a division of my co-pendin application, Serial No. 235,121, filed 1918, for extensible allowed June 11, 1919.

In carrying the objects of my-invention into effect, I p'rovidea rocking shaft pivay 17, automobile doors,

otedinthe frameofthedoor below the level 'of the space occupied by the extensible por- 40 tion when in lowered. position. Suitable operating levers are connected thereto and to the-latch forming a U-shaped operating.

i frame so that motion may be transmitted therethrough to move the latch. Preferably these levers are contained within the thickness of the door, only the handles fixed tihereto projecting out of the body of the oor.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, and in which similar reference characters denote similar parts, I Figure 1, represents a front view of an automobile door constructed in accordance with this invention some parts being broken away, and

Fig. 2, a section taken along the line indiv cated on Fig. 1. v

The automobile door 1 is provided with a vertically movable member 2 which is usually a frame provided with a glass pane 3; a rack 4 thereon operated by pinion 5 may be used to raise or lower the said movable portion. Screws 6 are provided to expand or contract the movable member, or such screws may be placed in the body .ofthe door to expand the guideways within which the movable member slides, in order to prevent rattling due to looseness of the movable member, as described in my co-pending application above referred to.

The door is provided with an ordinary latch 7 which is-connected to a handle 8 on the outer side of the door, the handle being operated to release the latch as is usual in constructions of this kind. Connected to the latch 7 is a downwardly extending lever 9, the lower end 10 of which is rigidly secured to a rocking shaft 11 pivoted in the lower portion 12 of the automobile door at Ya point below the space 13, which is of such which projects through a slot 19 formed in the covering 20-of the door. The lever '9 is inclosed by covering 21.

The latch7 is released from the outside of the automobile, as usual, by twisting of the handle 8 which directly operates the latch. When it is desired to release the latch from the inside of the automobile the handle 18 is shifted in its slot, shifting lever 9 through its rigid connection with rocking shaft 11, thus releasing the latch 7. A notch 22 is generally provided in the lower part of the frame 1 to allow same to fit over the rocking shaft 11 and thus allow the movable member to be lowered to practically the botto of the door. I

' This construction to outward appearances is exactly the same as the ordinary latch op erating means previously commonly used, but my invention contemplates a latch operating device of such a character that it will allow the movable member to occupy practically the entire width of the door,

which by the old construction could not be accomplished on account of the latch operating means extending through the door.

at about the height of the latch and its op erating handles.

Having thus fully described my said in vention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: 1. .In an automobile door, a latch, a latch operating device comprising a member pivoted in the lower portion of said door, and members extending upwardly therefrom on both sides of said door cooperating with said latch for operating the same.

2. An extensible automobile door having a lower hollow portion, an upper part movable vertically therein, a latch, means for operating said latch extending below the space occupied by the movable part when the same is lowered and extending upward on opposite sides of the vertical plane of said movable part.

3. An extensible automobile door having a lower hollow body, a vertically movable aeeaeea said latch having a rocking shaft located below the space adapted to be occupied by the movable part when in lowered position, a latch connecting lever fixed on said shaft on one side of said space, and an operating lever fixed on said shaft on the opposite side of said space.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 18th day of November A. D. nineteen hundred and nineteen.

FREDERICK KLEINSMITH. -[L. 8.] Witnesses:

H. V. BIERMAN, M. L. SHULEB. 

